


Realizations

by Tah the Trickster (TahTheTrickster)



Series: My Hero. [14]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 08:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6559708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TahTheTrickster/pseuds/Tah%20the%20Trickster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lydia finds out some new things about her Thane and partner. Like why she keeps getting them lost, for example. Lydia doesn't take all of them very well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Realizations

As was usually the case, I barely gave Dar'Zahyla five minutes of pacing and squinting at the map at the crossroad before getting up off the ground and taking it from her with a terse "Where are we going?"

Dar'Zahyla scratched at her cheek, looking suitably embarrassed. "...Solitude."

I tutted and turned to the map. "Finally going to indulge the Blades in their slipshod plan, I presume?" I couldn't think of any other business she might have in Solitude.

"Eh," she said, moving to my side and standing on her toes to peer at the map. "Khajiit has likely left this contact of Delphine in wait for too long as it stands. Where are we now?"

I spared her a baffled look and gestured at the nearby signpost. "Take a look for yourself. It'll be easier to pick it out on a map if you can tell which way is what."

Dar'Zahyla obediently turned her head to look at the signpost, but the confusion that furrowed her brow didn't smooth itself out. I watched her for a moment, only to notice that while her emerald gaze was indeed focused on the sign, her eyes weren't following the letters carved into the wood.

It clicked then.

"My Thane," I spoke up, drawing her attention quickly back to me, "can you read?"

She sputtered immediately and too quickly replied, "Of course Khajiit can read!"

I put a hand on my hip and raised a brow at her. "But can you read _Nordic?_ "

Her jaw worked soundlessly for a moment. Eventually Dar'Zahyla simply folded her arms stubbornly over her chest and looked away.

I couldn't help a slightly incredulous laugh. "Why didn't you just _tell_ me?" I asked, unable to hide my astonishment. "How on Nirn did you ever intend to figure out the map when you can't read anything written on it?"

Dar'Zahyla's ears flattened, looking suitably mortified. "...This one memorized the locations of the holds on the map to have some idea of where things were."

"I'm not sure you did it very well," I said, holding out the map in front of us again, "given how often you've gotten us lost. Point out Rorikstead for me."

She planted her finger on the map with confidence. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.

"That's Karthwasten."

"Ziss," she muttered, shoulders slumping.

I couldn't help a chuckle then. "I'll hold onto the map from now on," I informed her smoothly, rolling it up and lightly tapping it against her skull. "And if you like, I can try to get my hands on some books or something to help you figure out how to read."

Dar'Zahyla wrinkled her nose. "Your Nordic alphabet is... barbaric," she pronounced stubbornly.

I smiled and lightly ruffled her hair. She complained of the barbarism of Nordic culture often enough that it'd become something of a joke at this point. "I'd forgotten you have your own alphabet. It hadn't ever even occurred to me that Khajiit might write differently."

"Of course," she said, sounding mildly surprised. She dug around briefly in her pockets before withdrawing a small stick of charcoal. She took the rolled-up map back from me. "Here, Khajiit will demonstrate."

I watched, curious despite myself. The Ta'agra script was surprisingly delicate, consisting of a series of smooth loops and accent marks in something approaching a type of cursive.

"There," she said with a final flourish, handing the map back to me. I squinted at the rolling, unfamiliar script.

"And this says...?"

Dar'Zahyla shrugged a shoulder. "Merely your name."

I looked more closely at the graceful hand she wrote in, as if my name would somehow leap out at me if I looked hard enough. But—no, nothing.

"Interesting," I said, tucking the map back into my own pack. "In any case, we have a long journey ahead of us. Let's keep moving. I'd like to at least make it to Dragon Bridge before nightfall so we can sleep in a bed for once."

Dar'Zahyla chuckled, the charming, raspy sound rumbling softly into my ear. "Fair enough. Let us go."

I gave her a light thump to the back and continued walking in the direction of Solitude. She fell in line slightly behind me.

"If you don't mind my asking," I spoke up after a moment, "how have you gone this long without learning to read Nordic? It's kind of an important skill to have, don't you think?"

Dar'Zahyla scoffed and moved to walk by my side. "Reading Nordic is a luxury," she informed me. "Khajiit was more concerned with learning to speak it."

I cocked my head. I could see her point. "Fair enough," I said. "But you've been speaking it... well, I mean, about as well as most Khajiit speak it now. Don't you think it's time to learn to read it, since you're staying in Skyrim long-term?"

"Just because Dar'Zahyla has yet to learn it does not mean she had no intention of doing so," she said wryly, lightly elbowing me in the side. "This one has had little time to learn it."

I glanced aside at her, curious. "I thought you'd told me you've been in Skyrim since you were eighteen?" That certainly seemed to me a long enough period to learn a language.

Dar'Zahyla simply laughed, bemusing me further. "Yes, and this is not so long ago as to give Dar'Zahyla time, hm?"

I stopped so suddenly that Dar'Zahyla nearly ran into me. She gave a little surprised noise and backtracked a little to give me space. I turned around to level an incredulous look at her—it'd just occurred to me something else I'd failed to ever ask her.

"My Thane," I said slowly, watching her carefully, "how old exactly are you?"

Her brow furrowed for a moment, and then a slow smile spread over her face, as though she were privy to some inside joke I was yet unaware of. "Eh... Allow this one to return your question, hm? How old do you suppose?"

I didn't like the look on her face.

I cocked my head slightly, giving her a slow once-over. She was small in stature, certainly, but that wasn't much of an indicator one way or another. She'd also bulked out pretty well in muscle mass, particularly recently, which probably meant she was still young enough to be in such good shape. Her body, I knew, was riddled with old scars, the most prominent of which was a set of claw marks across her face—so she'd lived long enough to have survived many years of fights.

I chewed the inside of my cheek for a moment as I considered. Dar'Zahyla's grin widened at my indecision.

"...Thirty," I finally wagered. It seemed a fair guess—three years younger than myself.

Dar'Zahyla clapped her hands together with a sharp bark of laughter. " _Thirty?_ " she echoed through her giggles.

"...How old are you."

From the wicked spark in her eye, I should've prepared myself for the worst, but she gave me no time before grinning and carefully pronouncing, " _Twenty-four._ "

I suppose my mortification must've shown on my face, because Dar'Zahyla immediately began cackling anew, delighted with herself.

"By the Divines," I groaned, rubbing a hand over my face. "I'm involved with a _child._ "

"This one is scarcely ten years younger!" she protested, shoulders still shaking with silent laughter.

"You're practically a teenager. And we've _slept together._ "

Dar'Zahyla hooked her arm into mine and tugged, encouraging me to walk again. The occasional giggle continued escaping her mouth. "Eh, you did not seem to mind 'the teenager' in bed," she said, a smug little smirk touching her face.

I rolled my eyes and gave her a light shove. "Gods, I've corrupted you, too. Now we _really_ need to get to Dragon Bridge before nightfall." I picked up the pace. Dar'Zahyla half-jogged to catch up to me.

"Eh?"

"I need the strongest drink available to recover from this. Several drinks, in fact. _Twenty-four..._ "

**Author's Note:**

> (i am weak for age gap scenarios, let me live)


End file.
